Goggle Construction Generally
Sport goggles, such as are often used for skiing, cycling, snow-boarding, motorcycle and ATV riding, paint-balling, or standard-issue military goggles used primarily for military ground operations, typically have comprised a plastic frame or body and a clear plastic, or polycarbonate, see-through lens positioned as a see through screen for the user's eyes. At the ends of the goggle body there traditionally has been connected a textile, elongated, adjustable, elastic strap for holding the goggle body on a user's head or helmet by stretching the strap around the back of the head, or helmet, with the goggle positioned in opposing fashion on the face of the user.
The Need for Battery Power in Goggles
Many of today's goggles have incorporated therein such things as music playing capability, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,603,078, to Buskop for Ski Goggles With Digital Music Player; video capture capability, as shown in US Patent Application No. US 2009/0307828 A1, to Ludlow, for Goggle With Built-in Camera, GPS with LCD display for buddy tracking, speed and navigation purposes, as provided in a mod adapter for standard goggles by Recon Instruments, Inc.; electronic lighting and darkening of goggle lenses as taught in US Patent Application 2009/0256978 A1, to Park et al., for Liquid-Crystal Ski Goggles And Method of Manufacturing the Same; Heads-up display technology for goggles as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,212,859 B2, to Tang et al., for Peripheral Treatment For Heat-Mounted Displays; and even for aiming a hand-held weapon, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,140 to Michel et al. for Goggles Having Micro-lenses and Display Helmet. Of course, each of these electronic functions in goggles requires power for them to operate. A preferred method of powering such functions has been DC, chemical battery cell (e.g., Lithium Ion) power retained on the goggle or goggle strap.
The Need for Fog Prevention in Goggles
Fogging of goggle lenses is a very common problem with sports and military standard issue goggles. Fogging of goggles often occurs in various situations involving temperature extremes, particularly when warmer air caused by perspiration and respiration enters within a goggle enclosure and which is warmer relative to colder temperature conditions outside of the goggle body. Of course this problem has ranged from being annoying to the user, to presenting a very dangerous situation where the user's field of vision has been greatly diminished. The problem of fogged goggles has resulted in injury and even death among goggle users.
Early goggles have used passive air-flow systems, such as venting, to attempt to maintain goggle lenses fog free. Because these systems have been somewhat ineffective in preventing fogging, especially in more extreme conditions, there have been developed battery-powered, active air-flow systems, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,443, to McNeilly for Anti-Fogging Sports Goggle. In McNeilly, there is disclosed a power pack for holding a nine-volt battery for powering a ventilation fan. The power pack is shown carried between two parts of the strap on one side of the body of the goggle. The battery power pack has two slots on either end of the power pack for interconnecting with the goggle strap sections.
Responsive to the limitations of passive air-flow anti-fog systems, there have also been disclosed battery-powered, resistive-element heating systems for heating of the inner surface of the lens of a goggle to prevent fogging. Heating the lens of a goggle has required more battery power than operating a ventilation fan. An example of apparatus for heating the lens of a goggle has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,929, to Curcio, for Electrically Heated Ski Goggles. Curcio teaches carrying of the battery and switch in a housing on a belt of the user. One drawback of such as system is that it is cumbersome to have wiring running from the housing on the user's belt to the goggle lens.
Accordingly, another example of an apparatus for heating the lens of a goggle has been disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0151057 to Lebel et al., for Reversible Strap-Mounting clips for Goggles. In Lebel et al., a battery-powered lens heating system is disclosed comprising in relevant part a battery pack holder that contains a battery and which mounts the battery onto the strap via a connector. The battery pack holder includes spring loaded contacts, a positive contact and a negative contact, that are wired internal of the holder to be electrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery. The holder comprises a clasp portion that is hinged to a base portion of the battery holder allowing closing of the clasp to physically and electrically interconnect the battery to contacts on the outside of the strap.
One problem of such a device as disclosed in Lebel et al. is that, being on the outside of the strap, it relies on the strength and integrity of the clasp to hold the battery and battery holder in physical and electrical contact on the strap. Should the holder/connector combination become knocked, for example during a fall, or otherwise impacted during storage and/or handling of the device, the connection could become less secure and thus less effective. Also, in this regard, the hinged mechanism relies on a movable part that is vulnerable to wear or physical impact that could weaken the connection. Further, to the degree the strap between the battery and the goggle is flexible, running of wires through it to the contact leads for interconnecting with the battery would be problematic from a wear standpoint, since the wires wouldn't be as flexible as the strap material. Still further, the holder and connector are connected on the outside of the strap where moisture can have greater access to the holder, thus placing a premium on sealing of the holder and the connectors. This system of interconnection of the battery is not provided with sufficient styling consideration so as to blend more imperceptibly with the contours of the strap, but it also does not provide a more fool-proof guide for accurately attaching the battery onto the strap. Still further, since the advent of Lebel et al., battery technology has developed significantly, and more powerful, longer lasting batteries have been provided as means for significantly enhancing the potential for battery-powered lens heating systems.
The Need for Increased Battery Power in Goggles
While the latter resistive-element heating systems have been the most effective means of preventing fogging of goggles, they have also required more significant battery power to operate for an entire day of activity. Thus, goggles have required increasing amounts of power to allow mobile functioning of electronics devices within the goggles. While electronics utilized for visual displays, playing music, GPS systems, cameras and the like have been able to function for sufficiently long periods of time with a single lithium-ion, lithium-poly, nickel-cadmium or other chemical battery cell able to be carried on a goggle strap, the power requirements for longer-term prevention of fogging of goggle lenses for extended activity periods have been greater, thus necessitating multiple batteries, which have not been able to be conveniently carried on a single strap.
The capability of a single rechargeable chemical battery cell is to produce a maximum voltage in the range of 1.2 to 4.2 volts. However, goggle de-fogging heating elements, which have presented low-resistance to the power supply on the order of 5-10 ohms, have required higher voltage than a single battery cell can conveniently produce to operate in an efficient range. Combining two such batteries in a serial configuration, the available voltage of the entire power supply becomes equal to the total voltage of each single supply added to each other. For instance, if a single battery produces four volts, two such batteries in series produce about eight volts. By operating batteries in a serial configuration one can meet the voltage requirements necessary for modern transparent, low-resistance heating elements to prevent fogging.
Thus, goggle lens heating operations have consumed a substantial amount of battery power relative to readily and conveniently wearable battery power storage means. Accordingly, a problem with prior art battery systems for powering goggles has been that there has not been sufficient battery power that is convenient to wear on the goggles, or on the strap of the goggles, for example to keep the goggle lens heated during a sufficient amount of time to allow a day of fog-free activity. Part of the reason for this has involved the fact that adequate such battery power has been too heavy to comfortably wear on the strap or in the goggle itself. And this, in turn, is in part because commonly used textile straps have not been sufficiently rigid to hold the heavier batteries required.
Accordingly, a system for plugging goggles into a vehicle battery, such as for a snowmobile, has been developed as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,728, to Elenewski, for Visor Defroster. Drawbacks to such a system are that not all activities involve the use of a vehicle, and more problematic is the need for a tethering type wiring system extending from the vehicle to the visor, or goggle.
Another part of the reason for the lack of sufficient convenient battery power for goggle lens heating has been that more powerful lithium-ion type batteries have not been as readily available for consumer use until more recently with the advent of modern cellular telephone usage.
There has developed a need for a system of easily storing, securing, and quickly and efficiently installing battery power for a goggle to avoid lens fogging and/or for other goggle power. Further, there has developed a need for an improved, aesthetically pleasing system for conveniently and securely providing substantial and consistent battery power to a goggle. Such a system would not only be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but would be designed to be convenient to use, convenient to recharge, simple to change batteries in the field for fresh, readily storable backup batteries carried elsewhere, such as in a fanny pack or on a bandolier, on the user. Such a system would also be highly effective in securely attaching the battery to the goggle strap in such a way that the system could withstand impacts associated with the physical activities during which such goggles are commonly worn.